Funding boost to help Greater Manchester children at risk of exploitation

Victims of child exploitation and their parents in Greater Manchester, including those exploited into county lines drug dealing, will receive vital support from The Children’s Society after it was awarded new funding by The National Lottery Community Fund.

The charity hopes to help more than 250 children and 270 parents or carers across Greater Manchester, Birmingham and London through its flagship Disrupting Exploitation programme by 2024.

Latest figures show that in the 18 months from January 2020 to June 2021 there were 363 children in the Greater Manchester Police force area referred to the National Referral Mechanism – the system for identifying victims of modern slavery and trafficking – due to concerns they were being exploited.

The £2.5m in funding from The National Lottery Community Fund - the largest funder of community activity in the UK - will enable the programme to continue its ground-breaking ‘systems change’ work to disrupt all types of child exploitation. The Children’s Society works with organisations like police and social care to reform the way they respond to criminal, sexual and labour exploitation and support young victims.

It also works with these agencies – sometimes in the same premises – as well as with schools, businesses, and community groups, to train staff to spot signs of exploitation, change ways of working and help them make public spaces safer for young people.

Lucy Dacey, Disrupting Exploitation Programme Manager at The Children’s Society, said: “This welcome funding will enable us to offer vital support to many more children at risk of being criminally exploited, be it into county lines drug dealing or to commit other offences like holding weapons, inflicting violence or robbery.

“This help is more important than ever right now, with predators trying to take advantage of children following successive lockdowns which have left many feeling isolated, struggling with their mental health and worried about everything from Covid to family finances.

“But as well as supporting young people in this position, our programme enables us to continue to equip our partners to protect children in the future by changing their policies, making public spaces safer and seizing every opportunity to identify risks of exploitation, ensure victims get support and disrupt the criminals grooming them.

“Every time a vulnerable child is arrested, at risk of being excluded from school or assessed by social care, it could be a golden opportunity to identify exploitation and protect a young person.”

Since starting phase 1 of The Children’s Society’s work on disrupting exploitation three years ago, the charity has worked with nearly 200 young people who were at risk of exploitation or who were already being criminally exploited across Greater Manchester, London and Birmingham.

Young people are groomed with offers of friendship, cash, gifts and drugs and alcohol but then coerced into crimes like carrying drugs across the country in county lines operations with terrifying threats and violence.

Practitioners from The Children’s Society offer one-to-one and group work to help them understand grooming and exploitation and support them to stay safe.

In Greater Manchester, staff joined community safety meetings to advise on disrupting child exploitation and encourage a wider range of professionals to attend.

John Mothersole, Chair of England Funding Committee at The National Lottery Community Fund, said: “The pandemic has had a significant impact on the lives of young people and has heightened the risk of exploitation for some of the most vulnerable. Thanks to National Lottery players, we’re able to do our bit by continuing to support this charity’s great efforts to reach even more children.”